I made these Chicken Hand Pies the other night for dinner and thought they would be nice to pass along. As I started making them I realized they were actually very simple and look pretty impressive. I originally got the recipe from Everyday Food, but made a few changes along the way. I included the original recipe in case you would like to follow Martha Stewart's way. Although her recipe called for leftover food from a previous recipe because I found this recipe in a weekly "menu", so I had to mash the 2 recipes together in case you wanted to make your chicken and sweet potatoes from scratch like she does (over-achiever). I encourage you to try it a different way though and experiment with different "insides" : ) I look forward to creating my own "pies" soon.
Here is a step-by-step on how to make them the way I did.
Start by making the insides for the pies. The recipe calls for roasted sweet potatoes, but I didn't have time to roast my own, so I used canned yams and just drained them and rinsed them before mashing them. I bought one of the small cans and only used about half of it, so I saved the left-overs for another night to have on the side. I followed the recipe and used the coriander and cumin to season the potatoes, but if you want a more sweet pie, you could use brown sugar instead.
After thawing out the puff pastry and rolling it out into a 12" square, cut it into 4 individual squares. Spread the sweet potato mixture onto each square. You may want to try to keep the sweet potatoes on one half of the square to make it easier when folding the puff pastry. Be sure to leave about 1/2" around the edges so you can seal the pastry.
Next, top with your shredded chicken. The recipe calls for your own chicken, but I just purchased an already made rotisserie chicken from our local grocery store. The hassle of roasting a chicken is done and they always have great flavor! Any chicken left over you can use for chicken salad the next day!
Next, fold the square in half diagonally to create a little triangle. Whip an egg and brush the edges of each pie to help seal it up. Use a fork to seal the edges and cut a couple slits in the top of each pie to let the air out while cooking. Brush the rest of the egg wash on top of each pie to help it brown up while cooking.
Voila! Puffed up delicious chicken pies! Serve with your favorite veggie (I chose green beans) and of course, your favorite glass of wine : )
Chicken and Sweet Potato Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 2 cups roasted sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- All-purpose flour, for rolling
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces (2 cups)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, toss together sweet potatoes and 2 teaspoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets and roast until tender, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
- On a floured work surface, roll out puff pastry to a 12-inch square and cut into 4 squares. Divide sweet-potato mixture among bottom halves of squares, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top each with 1/2 cup chicken and brush edges of squares with some egg. Fold top halves of squares over filling to make a triangle, then crimp edges with a fork. With a sharp knife, cut vents in pastry and brush with remaining egg.
- Transfer pies to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden and crisp, about 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, bring 1/2 inch salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and serve with pies. In a medium bowl, mash sweet potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Add cream, coriander, and cumin; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
No comments:
Post a Comment